Several fintech companies operating in Kenya have expanded digital lending products specifically targeted at smallholder farmers, using alternative data such as mobile money transaction history to assess creditworthiness where formal collateral is unavailable.
The products typically offer short-term financing for seeds, fertilizer, and equipment, repaid after harvest, a structure designed around agricultural cash flow cycles rather than conventional monthly repayment schedules.
Early Uptake
Providers report growing uptake, particularly in counties with strong mobile money penetration, though they caution that default rates remain sensitive to rainfall variability and market price fluctuations for staple crops.
